Flexible rods find applications in a variety of fields, for example, as fishing rods, which rods are tailored to suit particular applications. Stiffer rods are preferred for heavy fish, while very flexible rods are utilised in fly casting. A variety of materials and geometries are employed in these applications. In fishing rod construction, cylindrical section materials both hollow and solid have been used. Round materials pose problems in mounting thereon an aligned set of line guides. Some of the lightweight, flexible materials, such as hollow carbon tube, have poor crush characteristics and poor torsional performance so that the application of fishing line guides to them poses problems. The conventional technique involves binding a wire-form bracket firmly to the rod. Too much pressure can crush a carbon filament tube. Attempting to realign a guide by twisting it about the rod axis can result in a fracture. Other rods less prone to these problems suffer disadvantages in less desirable flexing characteristics. Construction of tube form rods with tapers is not easy.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,932,986 to Powell shows a split cane technique for rod assembly from a number of canes. A rod of this type is provided with a taper by reduction of the wedge section dimensions over the length of the elements of the assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,758 to Bruce et al shows a development of the above utilising fibre resin reinforced plastic techniques. The cane wedge is duplicated in reinforced plastic and assembled in much the same way.
While a great variety of materials and layup techniques have been tried in the construction of rods, there is scope for improvements. It is desirable to establish a fabrication technique that may be applied to produce a range of rods each with preselected parameters for particular uses.